Blood tax

Chapter 66 One of the Clippers bound for Neopolis
After leaving the Earl's study, Griffith immediately opened the envelope to understand his mission.

"To Griffith Brandon, Broken Sea Mission Briefing.

"From the Earl's Court office at Larmor.

"Intelligence shows that a group of mad cultists are preparing to smuggle a dark magic item south. They will be aboard the clipper Equinox, which departs at 2pm today, and you must be aboard to investigate.

"The number, name, gender, age and ability of the suspects are unknown.

"During the mission, you will receive assistance from agents from the Central Bureau of Investigation and the local Extraordinary team, and upon arrival at Neopolis Island, you will be led by the local garrison mage.

"Minimum mission objective: Find out the role and whereabouts of black magic items (difficulty estimate: D level, should be handled by Beyonders of Sequence 8 or above or two regular army teams).

"Trying to identify the Fallen Mage, seizing or destroying dark magic items will increase the difficulty and rating of your quest.

"Mission period: two weeks. See attachment for first-class tickets.

"Task reward: Merit value 1 point and 100 Yinlang.

"Note: The risk of engaging a fallen mage cannot be assessed; the danger of black magic items cannot be assessed.

"This letter will be automatically burned 2 minutes after it is opened, be careful not to burn the ticket.

"January 1444, 1 of the Second Age."

Heck!Griffith was quick-witted, and quickly removed the ticket and put it in his pocket.Before he could study the task carefully, the letter turned into a ball of fire, causing the apprentice knight to scream.

"Good morning, Griffith!"

Sonia, who had already changed into her ball attire, lifted her skirt and walked down the stairs on the second floor, accompanied by her personal maid, and greeted the trainee knight in a brisk tone.The radiant girl is like the pure morning light. With her appearance, the living room of the Earl's Mansion seems to have suddenly ushered in a bright spring.

Griffith seems to have changed in the past six months, more mature and more melancholy than when he first came. Will the temperament of other provinces dissolve in Bayeran?Sonia tilted her head slightly and looked at her apprentice knight: "I'm going to attend Duke Esso's dance tonight, and my father has arranged other guards. Do you have anything to do?"

"I just received a mission to go to the south." Griffith replied.

"Hmm~" the blond girl thought for a while, "Just now, my mother asked me how I got along with you, and asked some things about you and Fort Watch. Why did you ask this?"

This makes me how to answer... Griffith feels sweat dripping from his temples to his neck.The maid behind Sonia couldn't help covering her mouth.

"Anna, please wait for me," Sonia nodded to the maid, looked up at Griffith, and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room.Griffith immediately followed.

Copper pipes are arranged throughout the Lamor Mansion, sending hot water and warmth to every corner of the room.Although the world is already white outside the window, it is still as warm as spring inside.

Sonia was wearing a slim, thin dress that revealed rounded, delicate shoulders.She looked at the snow on the treetops in the garden and said softly, "Griffith, you know what? On the night of the Whispering Forest, when you were missing from the battle with Baron Anselm, Garrard Ya was very worried about you. At that time, reinforcements from Homonwarts had already arrived. Since most of the people had escaped, the reinforcements were not active in going deep into the jungle to search for you."

Griffith gave the girl a surprised look and nodded uneasily.

"Galadia contacted a respectable clansman, called several powerful sealed items to find you, and finally defeated the mutant creatures chasing you at the edge of the forest," Sonia looked at Griffith with bright eyes. Si, "A powerful Sealed Artifact often means a dangerous backlash. In her capacity, taking a huge risk to help you, this matter itself... is whispering about you in the social circle."

Griffith felt great unease.Sonia's words euphemistically expressed one thing - some high-status figures cast their sights on the insignificant apprentice knight.

All they need is a gust of wind to drive the complex and precise gears. Before everyone notices, the rolling wheels in the distance have already run over a young non-commissioned officer.

"This is my Frost Day gift, I forgot to give it to you before, a potion of unit potential," Sonia stretched out her soft white hand and put a small bottle of potion into his hand, "When you go to the south, ask Be careful."

"Understood, I'll be careful," Griffith stepped back and said goodbye to the girl solemnly.

He had just taken two steps when he suddenly remembered something:

"Sonia, have you heard of Lady Iletia?"

……

"Great port area."

Griffith carried a simple bag on his back, jumped into a carriage, and galloped towards the port.The sudden mission disrupted his plan. Originally, he wanted to visit the black market on Tassok Street in the lower town of Bayeran during the New Year holiday to see if there were any suitable enchanted or magical items.

Although he was bedridden and isolated before Frost Day, he missed the time to buy gifts.But Galadia and Sonia both gave him presents, so he would naturally prepare one for them.These two gifts cost him more than 300 silver lang, in addition to the income from making moonshine, some monthly salary and savings were also included.

In Griffith's account, there are still 150 silver lang for the task bonus, 300 silver lang for the Eastern War bonus, and the balance of the salary subsidy at the end of December. The funds he can use are a total of 556 silver lang. Save for second-hand textbooks, tutorials, and lab materials, and if possible, save as much as you can to buy mystical items and potions for personal use.

The above is his hard-working income, legal income.The money was nothing worth mentioning, the potion of potential that Sonia gave him was worth 500 silver lang.

In addition, he also has 7 corrupted tarantula poison sacs that should have been allocated by the witcher team, with an estimated value of 105 gold florins, which is 2100 silver lang.The Extraordinary characteristics of Karius' Demon Hunter Path Sequence 7 "Demon Hunter" that he killed was worth at least 5000 silver langs.

These are his unknowable and unspeakable income. If Beacon Academy knows that he has killed a captain and instructor, it is estimated that he will have to call in the beginning of spring.

The undisclosed income is almost 13 times the legal income, and there is a limit to honest labor.

For the second son of the knight class like Griffith who has no right of inheritance, if he wants to get rid of his status as a high-level security guard, he must at least become a knight.Although Sequence 8 meets the minimum requirements, Sequence 7 is relatively safe and will not be killed early in the process of establishing meritoriousness.

Then, he had to marry a lady of noble origin and establish his own family.Although the girl's family will also provide financial support, Griffith himself needs to have some savings and property.

During this time, Griffith did a little research and deepened his understanding of his property.

If, just to give an example, if he wants to propose to Sonia and the earl does not kill him immediately, the knighthood plus the property of 5000 silver lang and the [-] silver lang annuity are the minimum thresholds, and will not let This marriage looks so absurd.Bayeran is the rule, and promising young people can't just have a future.

If Griffith wanted to marry Galadia, the problem would be much simpler.Elves have no such worldly requirements, nor do they care about possessions.The consuls of Canaan will kill him as soon as possible to completely solve this problem.

"Hey~"

Griffith let out a long sigh, and the coachman couldn't help but look back at him.

Whenever he thinks about these details, he realizes how inappropriate he is with Galadia.Not to mention that the lifespan of elves is much longer than that of him, and the stories of longevity and mortals often end in tragedy.

Going back to the specifics, the poison sac and Beyonder characteristics were very hot. Griffith put the poison sac into the potion to keep it and entrusted Sonia to keep it.The daughter of the Larmor family had a room full of materials and agreed to help without caring.

As for that piece of Beyonder characteristic, Griffith put it in his pocket along with the potion preparation notes, waiting for the right opportunity to let go.

Following Miss Larmor's advice, Griffith put on his mail and leather armor, a sword on his waist, and daggers in his cuffs and boots.This leather armor is still Griffith's personal equipment. After Bayeran's skilled craftsmen repaired it, it has been salvaged from a half-destroyed state, and it only cost a small amount of money.The key parts have also been reinforced with iron mesh and iron rings, repainted, and even more respectable than before.

But reliability is questionable.

After fighting in the Whispering Forest, Griffith discovered that mail armor and leather armor are very fragile in the face of mutant creatures.If he wanted higher protection, he had to consider the latest scale armor and plate armor.These new types of armor provided better defense than mail and leather, but were expensive and, most critically, expensive to repair.

The price of an ordinary mail armor is about 5 gold florins, and the plate armor including only the breastplate is expected to cost 12 gold florins, which is not much more expensive than the full suit that Griffith bought when he first arrived in Bayerland , equivalent to two months of his salary and allowance.Thinking about it afterwards, that formal suit was really too expensive, but it was chosen by Galadia for him. Griffith didn't understand fashion and styles, nor did he understand prices, and he was ashamed to say it was expensive.

Relatively speaking, the price of plate armor does not look amazing.But the real cost is in the inevitable repairs.The damaged mail armor can replace part of the iron rings, and the repair materials and labor are not much, and the leather armor is even more convenient to repair.

Plate armor must be removed from large damaged areas, and then carefully inlaid, welded and ground.If you cut corners when repairing, the gap between the patched armor and the original armor can easily be penetrated in battle, and even directly injure the armored person himself.Filling it directly with a large iron plate will destroy the balance and center of gravity of the entire set of armor, and it will be more harmful to combat and the body.

Griffith wants to buy a set of scales if he can.The protection is more than plate armor, and it is easy to inlay gems and crystals with special effects, and the repair cost is relatively normal.Of course, he also thought about it, the price of scale armor is much more expensive than plate armor.

The carriage left the avenue in the upper city and entered the lower city.

The snow-covered streets had a weird atmosphere, chilling and cold, and Griffith raised his vigilance almost immediately and pressed his sword.

It was a complicated feeling, as if many eyes were watching him in the dark corner, almost turning into reality and appearing in front of him.However, when he looked at the street, although he felt a little strange, he couldn't tell what was wrong.

(End of this chapter)